Infinix just forayed into Indian market just a couple of months ago and now with the launch of Infinix Zero 5, the company has entered into mid-range smartphone segment which is already very crowded in India. The Infinix Zero 5 might be their second device in India but they have a strong market in Africa. Priced at INR 17999 the device faces a stiff competition against well-established brands like Oppo, Vivo, Motorola, and Xiaomi. We have been using the device for about two weeks now and here is a comprehensive review of the Infinix Zero 5.

Design

The design of Infinix Zero 5 seems inspired by the Google Nexus 6P and Huawei P9, at least the back of the device is. The device is available in three color variants- Bordeaux Red, Champagne Gold and Sandstone Black. The Bordeaux Red color variant has a striking resemblance to the iPhone 7 Red edition. The device features a tall 5.98-inch Full HD JDI LTPS display at the front with a 16MP front camera with a soft LED flash at the top.

The back of the device houses a dual (12MP+13MP) camera module with a circular fingerprint sensor below it. The ports and button placement are following the standard trend but are aligned well in the center which makes easy to use the handset single-handedly.

We also have an Unboxing + first impressions video live on our YouTube channel which can be watched below.

Infinix Zero 5 Specifications:

Infinix Zero 5 comes with 5.98-inch Full HD display on the front. It is powered by a 2.6GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio P25 chipset with Mali T880 GPU along with 6GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage. Zero 5 comes with a dual-rear camera setup with 12MP wide-angle sensor from SONY and a 13MP telephoto sensor from SAMSUNG. Here is the complete specification list below.

Performance & Benchmarks

Infinix Zero 5 comes with an Octa-Core P25 processor, 6GB RAM, and 64GB internal storage. This hardware is enough to handle daily tasks and you can even expand the storage up to 256GB via microSD card. We never found the smartphone facing any hiccups or stutter during our testing phase. Playing graphic-intensive games was smooth most of the times with occasional frame drops while playing games like Asphalt 8. The massive 6GB of RAM handles multitasking well and in our opinion, 6GB of RAM is more than enough.

The handset comes with 4,350 mAh battery which lasts easily for an extensive day use. The Screen On Time (SOT) in our testing period averaged to about 4 hours 30 minutes, which is quite impressive. The smartphone supports XCharge technology, which is a form of fast charge technology, but in our testing, the device still takes about 2 hours to charge from 0-100%, which isn’t the fastest charging solution.

The massive 5.98-inch 1080p display follows the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio and has a Corning Gorilla Glass protection over the top. In our time with the device, we found the display gas vivid colors with great brightness. The display is great for a 1080p display panel, but some colors seem oversaturated which doesn’t look natural.

Overall, the performance of the Infinix Zero 5 is at par with the competition but nothing extraordinary by any means in terms of performance, but that’s surely not the highlight of the device.

Camera

The main highlight of Infinix Zero 5 is its rear dual camera module, at least the camera specifications look good on paper. The device features a 12MP wide-angle SONY IMX386 sensor with f/2.0 aperture and a 13MP telephoto SAMSUNG S5K3M3 sensor that enables Portrait mode, 2X Optical Zoom, and 10X Digital Zoom. The photos captured with the primary camera turn out to be bright and colorful in bright daylight conditions. Although the images seem a bit oversaturated, but considering the price of the device, it is totally acceptable and the images turn out to be surprisingly good.

Talking about the portrait mode, which has become an industry standard these days. The portrait mode on this device is a hit or a miss, when it works the portrait image turns out to be great but sometimes the camera fails to recognize the focussed object (Update: This issue has somewhat been fixed in the latest update, but still it is not perfect yet, but we hope it would improve more in future software iterations).

There is also a professional mode in the camera which lets you adjust the ISO, white balance, EV, Shutter Speed, adjust focus manually and Zoom.

The Zero 5 also features a 16MP Front-facing camera (SAMSUNG S5K3P8) accompanied by a soft LED flash. The selfies captured with this module turned out to be bright but overexposed. Infinix has also included a portrait mode for the front camera, and it fails to distinguish the focussed object from the background and the images turn out to be blurry.

ION Verdict

Infinix Zero 5 is a big device with great camera modules and a humongous battery. The software experience and performance might not be at par with the competition but the device holds well in a few areas. The device is priced at INR 17,999 for the 64GB variant and this puts it directly against the Honor 9i, Oppo F5, Vivo V7 and Mi A1. The camera and battery are the standout features of this device and in terms of battery like the device can kill all the above-mentioned devices but in terms of camera, Infinix has to improve the portrait mode. Overall the camera of Infinix Zero 5 turns out to be great and can capture some great looking shots in bright daylight. The only thing that holds this device back is its bulky design and lack of tall 18:9 display.

The competition is tough in this price range where Vivo V7 offers an 18:9 display and an average battery life, where the Mi A1 offers a pure stock experience with a decent camera and good battery life. The Honor 9i excels in its display and has a decent camera and battery. The choice is tough but if you want a solid build device with decent camera setup and a great battery, then you should definitely consider Infinix Zero 5.

Pros

Premium Build Quality

Beautiful Design (Although it might be inspired by Nexus 6P)

Bordeaux Red color variant of this device looks as good as the iPhone 7 Red Edition

Impressive Battery Life

Great Rear Camera (We expect the portrait mode to be improved in future updates)